Year after year we are astounded to see so many tourists (and some natives) standing in line—often a long line—waiting for cupcakes. You can even see the cupcake froster in the window, a job which seems to have a lot of turnover. (How many cupcakes can you frost before you yell, "I quit!") We realize those ladies from Sex and the City made this place famous, but the cupcakes are not spectacular enough to make standing outside for 20 minutes worth your time. In this big city of endless bakeries, a word to the wise: Billy's Bakery on Ninth Avenue (21st Street) and the bakeries at nearby Chelsea Market haven't got any lines. And now that Allysa Torey has sold Magnolia to a well-known restaurateur, you too might as well move along.
But if you are going to eat these cupcakes, we remind you to throw away your litter in a trash can; too many tourists have been accused by Greenwich Village curmudgeons of "trashing" their neighborhood with Magnolia detritus. You've been warned.